Ulster’s 6ft 5in solid young backrow is athletic and has excellent pace and footwork

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell has described James McNabney “as some specimen of a man”. At 6ft 5in and 118kg (196cm and 18-and-a-half stone in old money), it’s a fair comment.

For those who have watched the 23-year-old play rugby, it doesn’t reveal the full picture, but Farrell was offering a soundbite, not a deep-dive assessment.

McNabney is one of two uncapped players named in the Ireland squad for November’s Nations Championship fixtures, Ulster team-mate Jamie Benson being the other. Ballymena man McNabney would have enjoyed a debut by now but for a series of unfortunate events.

Announced as a development player and brought to a training camp in Portugal in advance of the 2025 Six Nations, he was to occupy a similar role in advance of Ireland’s tour to Georgia and Portugal that summer, only to tear his anterior cruciate ligament in training.

It was a cruel blow for a player who had started 14 of Ulster’s 17 games, featuring as a blindside flanker and number eight, and it ruled him out for all of last season.

He played for the Ireland under-20s, part of the 2022 Six Nations Grand Slam-winning side, joined in the backrow by captain Reuben Crothers and player-of-the-tournament James Culhane.

The young flanker started three games in that campaign, featuring off the bench in a fourth, and played in the World Junior Championship last summer. The following season, he won another under-20s Grand Slam, playing 380 of 400 minutes alongside Munster duo Ruadhán Quinn and Brian Gleeson, scoring tries against Italy and Scotland.

He travelled to a second World Championship in South Africa as part of the side coached by Richie Murphy that was beaten by France in the final. Ulster gave him a development contract in 2024, having made his senior debut against Glasgow Warriors in November 2023, and it was upgraded to a senior deal in 2025.

It represents a potted rugby history, but as a sport, it wasn’t his preference growing up.

In a 2024 interview with the Belfast News Letter, McNabney said: “I used to ride horses. I also played rugby when I started Cambridge House [secondary school in Co Antrim], but I didn’t play any mini rugby.

“I grew up on a farm, had quite a busy upbringing and rode horses until the stage of under-18s and more or less gave it up. I haven’t ridden a horse in ages now. It got to a stage where I had to decide whether I wanted to be skinny and ride a horse or put weight on and play rugby.

“So I didn’t really watch an awful lot [of rugby] when I was younger. I always had far more fun playing it than watching it. I did a sport called ‘Mounted Games’; it’s not that common in the North, but I represented Northern Ireland on a few occasions at Royal Windsor Horse Show, and I was on the GB team for a year.

“It’s a bit like agility on horseback, or relay racing on horses. It was great fun and highly competitive. Michael Black, who was involved with the Under-18s – I’m not sure of his exact role – told me I needed to make this decision or that it was one that was coming up.

“It was influenced by him, but it was also on me and there was no real pressure because at that stage I didn’t know whether I was going to become a professional rugby player or not.”

He stood out at school in rugby terms on account of his stature and strength, and played interpros at under-18s and under-19s before joining the Ulster academy and going on to achieve great with the Ireland under-20s.

Asked if he made the right decision to stick to rugby, he said: “Well, there’s no money in horses, I know that for sure. I’m happy with my decision and I’m really enjoying my rugby so far, so I’ll just see where it takes me.”

Farrell’s enthusiasm for the young backrow, having brought him into an Ireland alignment camp in August, is understandable. He shares many of the traits that made Stephen Ferris a standout with Ulster, Ireland and the Lions.

McNabney is athletic, has excellent pace and footwork, and loves collisions on both sides of the ball. All he needs is a chance, and that looks to be coming his way next month.